Brief ⁽¹⁾

SB 14 amends the Kansas Dispute Resolution Act as follows:

• Coverage is extended specifically to include disputes referred by state government or as otherwise provided by law.
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• The current list of eight types of cases where a judge may order dispute resolution is deleted and replaced by a general grant of discretion to a judge to order mediation in any case where the judge finds: that alternatives to litigation would provide a more appropriate means to resolve the issue in a case; the costs of the dispute resolution are justified regarding the parties' ability to pay these costs. A judge may order the parties to participate in a settlement conference or a nonbinding dispute resolution process.
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• A new section is added to provide that the avoidance of mediation shall constitute bad faith. A court is authorized to order a party found to have acted in bad faith to pay reasonable attorneys fees of the other party or parties.
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• A statute dealing with the Secretary of Human Resources ordering mediation in labor disputes is amended to delete the current $50 per day compensation rate limit for mediators to be paid by the Secretary and replaced with provisions which allow the Secretary to charge fees to the parties for mediation, conflict resolution services, or training programs and to allocate these costs.

Background

The bill was introduced as a result of an interim study by the Special Committee on Federal and State Affairs. The bill was supported by the Dispute Resolution Coordinator of the Office of Judicial Administration; Kansas Legal Services; InterHab; the Coordinator of the Johnson County Small Claims Mediation Program; the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Industry; the Kansas AFL-CIO; and others.

Proponents said the bill and amendments were needed clarifications and extensions of the law.

The bill has no fiscal impact on the state.

1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/fulltext.cgi